this one's in rough beta stage, lots of
room for improvement, imho.

I really, _really_ hate writing fighting scenes.

This part is about 50% complete.  Still gotta write
intermission, round two, and aftermath.

-rodM


-----------------------------------------------------------------
note: Eric Jones gave me an assist on the Mikado bits.  Thanks :)

The Pursuit of Happiness
Act 2: The Kings of Nerima
Day 2: Shuffling the Deck


[Furinkan High, 4th floor, 4:15 PM]

The classroom was once more rigged with laptops and chalkboard
diagrams as Nabiki's team prepared for another day of heavy betting.
Their leader, however, was not amongst them.  Instead, she was walking
the halls in a conversation with her new supernatural consultant and
Furinkan High's local fortune teller.  The news was a little
unexpected.

"He has what?" asked Nabiki, staring at Mio in surprise.

"From what I've been able to find in the books, the abnormal aura he
has hints towards him somehow having a variant of 'soul power'."

"Soul power?"

Mio nodded.  "It's an ancient power that was never really understood
well.  There are many theories on what, exactly, it is, but there have
never been any definite answers.  They all agree, however, that the
power is an extention of the person's soul.  Whether it is an
extention the soul, or a greater force that the soul connects to, is
under debate." 

"Mm-hm.  You said Kuno may have a variant of it?"

"Yes.  Normally, Soul Power is mastered by those with inner peace. 
Their battle aura is usually a bright blue.  However, should those not
of a peaceful spirit, perhaps haunted by inner demons or consumed by
evil intent, gain access to Soul Power, the darkness of their souls
taints the power, hence the darker aura.  In turn, the power twists
the user as well.  The power in such individuals is known as Psycho
Power."

Nabiki raised an eyebrow.  "So, in your opinion, Kuno shows all the
signs of having this power?"

Mio nodded.

"Give me the worst case scenario," said Nabiki.

Mio hmmed.  "Worst case scenario?  Kuno gains full mastery of the
power and becomes a nearly unstoppable psychotic."

"And the odds of that happening?"

"Not as likely as I feared it would be," said Mio.  "I observed Kuno
earlier today, hoping to see something more in his aura that the
cameras wouldn't catch.  He's surrounded, for some odd reason, by
several spells."

"Spells?"  Nabiki's mind spun a few times, considering the
implications.  Two seconds later, it came up with the only likely
suspect:  Gosunkugi.  She'd have to ask him about it later, but for
now...  "What kind of spells?"

Mio frowned.  "An unusual assortment.  Blessings, protection against
evil spirits, much more that I can't recognize."

"You can't recognize them?"

"No," said Mio.

"The spellcaster was that good?"

"No... he was that sloppy.  I get the impression that the caster was
throwing spells frantically."

Yes, thought Nabiki, definitely Gosunkugi.

"Anyways," continued Mio, "with these spells cast on him, he should
only be able to manifest the full power when his emotions are
incredibly strong." 

"Ah, good, end of problem," said Nabiki matter-of-factly.

"There IS one cause for concern, though," said Mio.  "The way those
spells are bound to him constantly, they're in constant conflict with
his Psycho power.  There may be side effects."

"What kind?" asked Nabiki.

"No way of knowing, really."

"So, does this X factor have anything to do with his current
run of good luck in the tournament?"

"With the power running through his system, despite being being
hindered by those spells, Kuno probably has improved reflexes,
stamina, and even strength.  From what I've heard, Kuno has always
been formidable, but just below the level at which the recent influx
of martial artists." 

"That would be correct," said Nabiki.  "You think he's been nudged up
to that level at last?"

"It's a possibility."

They walked further, Nabiki looking contemplative while Mio admired
the good weather outside.  They'd nearly come full circle around the
floor, and could hear the clacking of keyboards coming from Nabiki's
operations center. 

"Something's still bothering me," said Nabiki.  "How on earth did Kuno
gain this power to begin with?"

"That," said Mio, "you'll have to ask him yourself."

*

[Furinkan High campus, 5:30 PM]

Mikado sighed, running a hand through his hair, checking his
reflection over and over.  For the first time in far too long, he was
going it alone.  The King oF Nerima Tournament.  Finally, he'd be able
to prove his greatness, and rid that one blemish from his otherwise
perfect record.. Saotome.  He would fall this tourney, by Mikado's own
hands. 

The first day had been a veritable cakewalk.  Having easily disposed
of some foppish member of the martial oragami school, he'd had to
defeat that lovely yet overzealous cheerleader girl.. 

That, however, was yesterday, the past.  His attention at the moment
was focused on finding the latest fight match listings to determine
where and when his next match would be.  He idly wondered if his next
opponent would prove to be more entertaining than yesterday's cannon
fodder. 

Mikado smirked.  It was of no consequence.  Mone could stand before
the might of his now-perfected style.  He had far more tricks up his
sleeve than when he first met Ranma.  The matches were to begin in
about an hour's time, but first he felt obligated to go about and meet
the fans... 

-----

Ryouga shook his head, growling as he made a b-line to the nearest
washroom.  He was wet, cold, and female.  Of COURSE Moh wouldn't just
leave the loss alone..  He just HAD to get vengeance back.. 

Ryouga shuddered.  He and his partner, Shem Pu had a nasty thing with
water bottles.. 

But before Ryouga was allowed to think, or move, any further, a pair
of hands pulled her from behind, leaning her back.  Almost instantly,
a pair of lips were upon her.  -Male- lips. 

Mikado smiled, raising the innocent girl back to her feet.  He sighed
dramatically, "Ah, thank you my dear, for such a message of well
wishing. Now, Sanzenin Mikado shall go forth to victory.  I shall not
forget you, my lovely.." 

With that, Mikado rollerbladed off, leaving Ryouga to stare blankly
ahead of herself.  Momentarily. 

Ryouga shook her head, then her whole body followed soon after.  Teeth
grated, and flames build up around her body.  "I'M GOING TO KILL
HIM!!"  She cried, punching the ground, hard. 

Later, when she was able to get out of the crater, she decided to
clean up and change back to a male first. 

Stopping by one of the concessions stands, Ryouga got a cup of hot
water. As he waited, he noticed the tournament schedule.  His next
match was against... ah ha. 

Ryouga smiled.  Vengeance could wait wait for an hour or so. 

-

With a sigh, another girl stepped back giggling.  Mikado himself was
looking quite pleased as he made the rounds with the people and gave
his fans the adoration they desired. 

It was a good day to be Mikado Sanzenin. 

Mikado's reverie was cut short, when he walked headlong into another
man. He took a step back, his eyes narrowing in recognition. 

Simultaneously, Ryouga and Mikado cried out "YOU!!"  Then then both
simultaneously blinked.  Mikado was the first to recover. 

"You!  You are the boy who cost me my match against that coward
Saotome! ...Hibiki Ryouga, is it not?  It seems this tourney will be
more enjoyable than I thought..." 

"Hey, you, if you EVER kiss me again I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" 

Mikado blinked, then crossed his arms and frowned.  "Excuse me?  Kiss
YOU?  I think not.  What kind of pervert are you anyway?" 

Ryouga winced.  "Ah... I said... I _said_ if you kiss MY SISTER again
I'm gonna kill you!" 

Mikado blinked, puzzled.  "Are you sure you didn't say 'if you ever
kiss me again'?" 

Ryouga's brain managed to summon up a little cleverness.  He looked
scandalized.  "Why would I wanna kiss you?!" 

"Hey, that's what I was asking you!" 

"I did NOT say I wanted to kiss you!" yelled Mikado.  "You're not even
my type!" 

"What, you're saying I'm ugly now?!" 

At this point, both men had that really bad feeling, the kind that
says, 'hey, better look over your shoulder'. 

They did. 

There was a large crowd gathered, listening to these two argue, and
plenty of whispers about sexual orientation and perversion. 

Mikado turned pale.  So did Ryouga. 

"I'll... uh... see you in the match," grumbled Ryouga. 

"Likewise," said Mikado. 

They both _quickly_ went their sepeate ways. 

-

Nabiki smiled, pocketing her mini-cam tape, and loading in another. A
huge smile was on her face.  "Well, that was amusing..." 

*

                         ---------- Round 1 --------

*

The sun set on the canal, giving the fighters standing by its side a
rather cinematic quality.  The spectators chose this moment to take
lots of photographs.

Akane ignored them, she had other things on her mind.

It wasn't her adversary's _very_ dusty, unkept appearance that had
Akane a little worried.

It wasn't the way that her adversary seemed totally and utterly
relaxed.

It was the large metal radial steel wire broom that had her worried.  

Akane had seen footage of Tanya's fights, and she knew she was in for
one rough experience.  Tanya Noori was a wily foe that was entirely
willing to fight dirty.  More often than not, she drew blood from her
foe either from strikes of the steel wire broom, or nastier looking
hook-like objects she kept in her jacket.

Akane snapped out of her thoughts when she realized Noori was
approaching her.

"Tendo."

"Um, yes?"

"Just want you to know.  Nothing personal."

*

Meanwhile, in the soccer field, a rivalry of sub-legendary proportions
with a year's worth of history was about to take place.

For once, thought Ranma, he was getting a break.

"Hahahaha... so, Ranma Saotome, fate decrees that I, Tatewaki Kuno
shall cross paths with you on this day!..."

Yeah, same old Kuno, talkative as ever.

"...Know now that your participation in this tournament is at an end,
for today..." 

Blah, blah, blah...

"...SURELY destiny has seen fit that the public witness as I,
Furinkan's Favorite Son, bring you, lowly cur that thou art, to your
knees!  HAHAHAHAHAHA!" 

"Aw, shut up already!"  As was tradition, Ranma used his unmatched
speed and slid in for multiple strikes at Kuno's jaw, finishing it
with an uppercut that sent Kuno flying back, hitting the ground flat
on his back, just as Ranma expected.

Ranma turned his back on Kuno, looking smug.  "So, did I get'em under
five seconds?" he asked the judge's table.  "I'm going for that
rec-"

*SLASH*

*

The Kolholz Ice Rink was stripped of its ice, leaving bare concrete
at the floor.  It was, to Mikado, a sad sight.  He took comfort in the
fact that it was only temporary.

He also took comfort in the legions of Mikado fans in the audience,
screaming his name, proclaiming their love for him.

"Thank you!" he said, smiling and waving as he rollerbladed around the
rink.  "Thank you all!"  He deftly caught a rose that was tossed to
him from the audience and smelled its aroma.

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the rink, Ryouga was standing
there, eager for the match to begin.

The announcer stepped to the middle of the rink, beckoning both
fighters to the middle, then extracted a wireless microphone.

*LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WELCOME TO THE KING OF NERIMA TOURNAMENT!  TO
MY LEFT, RYOUGA HIBIKI OF FURINKAN HIGH!*

There was some light applause, and a fair amount of boos and hisses
from the crowd as well.  After all, this was Mikado's turf.

*TO MY RIGHT, KOLHOLZ HIGH CHAMPION MARTIAL ARTS FIGURESKATER MIKADO
SANZENIN!

At this point, the crowd went wild with cheers, roaring and chanting
'Sanzenin! Sanzenin! Sanzenin!'.  Mikado's smile rised a notch and he
raised his hand to acknowledge the audience's adoration.

*THE MATCH ENDS BY KNOCKOUT OR SUBMISSION!  FIGHT*

The transition from smiling, waving egomaniac to speeding, attacking
martial artist was quick, catching Ryouga off guard.  Sanzenin sped
in sliding, knocking Ryouga off his feet and onto the floor.  Before
he could recover, Sanzenin sprang up in the air in a dazzling triple
rotation, then plowed into Ryouga's chest with both feet.

Surely, thought, Mikado, that was the end of that.  Two seconds later
Ryouga booted him into the wall.

*

"Stand your ground, coward!"  *SLASH*

Ranma sprang back as Kuno slashed another canal into the field.  In
the distance, several trees and the goalposts were laid to waste,
evidence of Tatewaki Kuno's newfound prowess.

As he landed, Ranma winced and put a hand over his ribs.  He was
still angry at himself for turning his back on his enemy, even if it
was Kuno.  Genma trained him to know better than that.  Now, because
of his arrogance, he had two bruised ribs that definitely weren't
going to be healed overnight.

Kuno lashed out again, his speed not quite but approaching the speed
of Ranma's chestnut fist technique.  Ranma dodged some strikes and was
forced to block others.  The strikes he blocked left a burning,
stinging sensation.

As Kuno's attack wound down, Ranma let loose with his own speed
attack.  To his surprise, Kuno actually managed to block a few, but
for the most part his punches were finding their mark.  Ranma finished
with backhand followed by a footsweep, knocking the kendoist off his
feet and into the ground.

"There, MUCH better," said Ranma.  He took a few steps back and caught
his breath.  This was just wrong, Kuno shouldn't have been this much
trouble.  But as the match extended, Kuno had been getting better.
Something odd was going on.

The question now was if Kuno would STAY down.

"Saotome... I... fight... ON!"  

Damn.  So much for a quick end.

Kuno rose quickly and slashed again, but this time a wave of dark
energy flew from his blade.  Ranma ducked, and the ki blast flew into
the side of Furinkan High, shattering brick and window alike. 

Ranma stared at the damage, then at Kuno, who was definitely
flickering with a dark aura.  

"Aw man, all I wanted was ONE easy match.  WHOA!"

*

Mikado spun wildly in place, with Ryouga snared in his Dance of Death
attack.  Punch after punch slammed into Ryouga but the lost boy showed
no signs of collapse.  Finally, Mikado spun away, leaving Ryouga
somewhat bruised and slightly dizzy and Mikado unhurt but with the
world spinning at an alarming rate.

Ryouga recovered first and went on the offensive, hurling bandanna
after bandanna at the skater until the air swarmed with them.  With
his speed, Mikado managed to kick away or dodge them, although a few
flew in close enough to cut his clothes.

He was so busy taking care of the bandannas that he failed to notice
the really big umbrella flying towards him.  A second later, he also
discovered that the umbrella was _very_ heavy.

*

The match had gone on for far longer than Ranma liked.  Kuno didn't
land too many more solid blows, but every hit of his bokken that did
get in was going to be sore for days after.  Ranma, in turn, laid Kuno
flat on his back several times, but the kendoist _always_ managed to
stand once again.

It was after a few more minutes that Ranma realized his mistake.  This
wasn't the same old Kuno.  He was fighting him as if he was, though,
and that just wasn't working.

There was something he knew that worked on anyone.  It worked against
Happosai just fine.  It flattened Ryouga before.  Surely, it'd work on
Kuno.

After several minutes of trading shots, and lots of insults by Ranma,
Kuno was burning red hot with rage.

Perfect.

"Ya call this a match, Kuno?  Your sister fights better than this!"

"INSOLENT DOG!"

Yep, definitely hot enough.

Carefully, Ranma began retreating in a spiral pattern, with Kuno
eagerly following, accompanied by a frenzy of slashes.  Ranma
concentrated on cool, kept his focus on being cool, let inner peace
fill his mind.

Then he let loose with the attack.

"HIRYU SHOTEN HA!"

A pillar of light surrounded by a sudden whirlwind surrounded Ranma,
catching Kuno in its path.  The Kendoist flew high in the sky,
spinning helplessly in the mini-tornado that the hiryu shoten ha
generated.

A second later, The Blue Thunder crashed down to earth, finally
unconscious.

*